Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Doc, is this technology for me?
- Wed, 3/3/10 - 6:41pm
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Regardless of the merit of a new medical device, it does not take long for patients or relatives to inquire about new technology that could potentially be used to their advantage. However, when asked by an experienced and generally skeptical cardiology colleague who underwent aortic valve replacement with a bioprosthetic valve more than 10 years ago (with excellent results) whether a percutaneous valve may be an option for him in the event of prosthetic failure, two aspects of this new technique become apparent. First, it has already become a real treatment option and, second, spe
Percutaneous Aortic Valve Replacement: Desperately needed, Definitely here to stay
- Wed, 1/6/10 - 12:40pm
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pg.E34 - E36
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To evaluate the current and future role of percutaneous aortic valve replacement, we need to ask three main questions:
1. What is the natural history of the disease and where did we stand after the widespread availability of surgical aortic valve replacement?
2. Where do we currently stand?
3. Where are we going from here?
Regarding the first question, before the advent of surgical aortic valve replacement in the early 1960s, symptomatic severe valvular aortic stenosis was uniformly associated with a poor prognosis, with an ave
